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 Physics at Virginia

"The Causes of Metastability and Their Effects on Transition Times"


Katie Newhall , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
[Host: Marija Vucelja]
ABSTRACT:

Many experimental systems can spend extended periods of time relative to their natural time scale in localized regions of phase space, transiting infrequently between them.  This display of metastability can arise in stochastically driven systems due to the presence of large energy barriers, or in deterministic systems due to the presence of narrow passages in phase space.  To investigate metastability in these different cases, I take a Langevin equation and determine the effects of small damping, small noise, and dimensionality on the dynamics and mean transition time.  Of particular interest is what happens in the infinite dimensional limit, a stochastic partial differential equation, and the question of what ensemble this system appears to sample over time.  Both analytical and numerical results will be presented.

http://knewhall.web.unc.edu/

Condensed Matter Seminar
Thursday, October 20, 2016
11:00 AM
Physics Building, Room 313
Note special time.
Note special room.

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